Little Veggie Kindergarten
by InfiniteSteps
Summary: Lovino and Feliciana Vargas have just started kindergarten in a small Japanese village affectionately called Euronook. And so has their teacher, Antonio Carriedo! Feli is very ambitious and makes friends right away in the Tomato class, but things aren't so easy early on for Lovi. Will things get better? Follow the LVK classes on their daily adventures to find out!
1. Chapter 1: Everyone's First Day!

Thank you very much for clicking on my fic! Please enjoy!

* * *

Little Veggie Kindergarten

Chapter 1: "Everyone's First Day!"

Lovino, wake up wake up wake up!" Four-year-old Feliciana Vargas pounded on her twin (big!) brother's bedroom door. "Today's our first day of kindergarten! We get to meet lots of other kids and we get to play with new toys and we get to meet our new teachers and!"

Then the door was open, and four-year-old Lovino Vargas, whom Mrs. Vargas always said was six minutes older than Feliciana, was stomping out and telling his baby sister that he _did_ remember that today was their first day of kindergarten and that he _did_ remember that they were gonna meet lots of other kids and got to play with new toys and meet new teachers and, most importantly…

"We have to go and be with THOSE kids every day for two years! And then we have to go and _keep_ being with THOSE kids and different teachers every year until we're as old as Mommy! I KNOW, Feli, and I don't need to hear it AGAIN!" And then Lovino stomped off to the children's bathroom to go and then wash his hands carefully and then brush his teeth in front of the mirror that he could see thanks to their new stepstool in front of their undersea bath curtain with his own blue bubble gum flavored toothpaste on his Tomatokun toothbrush.

Then Feli cried, she always CRIED ever since last spring when someone got mad or started yelling or crying, and went downstairs to tell Mommy that Lovino was sad about going to kindergarten again and that maybe they didn't really need to go and they could just live with Mommy until they were as old as her and help her with her gardening.

Then Lovino heard Mommy coming up the stairs. She was going to yell at Lovino even though she never yelled at him or Feli, but he knew better. Someday he would get mad one time too many and _then_ she would yell and he would finally know for sure that he was right all this time!

But she didn't yell this time again. Lovino watched the focus of her eyes as she instead gently opened the bathroom door and made sure that he was brushing correctly and long enough and in the right places. Lovino spit, wiped his mouth off with some toilet paper, then walked past Mrs. Vargas back into his room to try to open the closet door himself to retrieve his kindergarten uniform. He would have kept stomping, but he never felt like it anymore after he saw Mommy watching him like that.

The small walk-in closet was hard to open without the handle that was centimeters above Lovino's head and really easy to slide off the track by just pushing it from the side. Mrs. Vargas placed a hand on her son's head after almost a minute and asked him to go and wait on his bed, then slid open the door revealing the pressed white button-down shirt, plaid navy suspender shorts, matching dark blue jacket with Little Veggie's emblem on the breast for colder days, and red school hat. Lovino didn't want to look at his uniform yet so he slowly took off his Tomatokun pajamas for the dirty clothes hamper and took a fresh pair of underpants and socks and a white undershirt out of his dresser. Mommy didn't say anything since before she came upstairs while Lovino was still in the bathroom. Was she really mad even though she was smiling?

He felt bad about doing what he knew how to do best, but he still crossed his arms next to his dresser and stared at the soft beige carpet. This was dumb. He felt like crying, standing there in his tank top and undies because he yelled at Feli a few minutes ago because he was nervous about going to kindergarten in a new place. He told himself that he didn't want to cry because that was what Feli did, so he looked up at his mommy and didn't feel so dumb anymore when he saw she was still smiling.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, whispering because he hated how he kept bothering her with the same thing he was scared about. "I don't want to go to school. I don't think that Feli and I need other kids, so I don't _want_ to go and meet other kids."

Then Mrs. Vargas was kneeling next to Lovino and rubbing his back again, like she did when the twins first found out about going to kindergarten in Japan. "Let it out, honey," she soothed.

Then Lovino _really_ started crying, and he said then what he had said before but in a more specific way. "Feli likes other kids, but I _don't_. And even if Feli wants to go and meet the other kids, she _doesn't_ need to meet our teachers! She doesn't know what she needs, but _I do._ " Now Mommy was hugging him on the plushy floor. " _ **I know that me and Feli only need YOU!**_ " And then Mrs. Vargas' little Lovi was crying again, the same way he always cried when he was finally overwhelmed from bottling up all his feelings and hiding behind his grumpy little attitude. He was literally sobbing – she only really understood what "sobbing" actually was after she first heard her babies-who-were-no-longer-actual-babies sob and hold onto her clothes after what happened to Daddy back in Europe.

"Mommy?" Feliciana was at her big brother's door then, with a bit of a milk moustache from what must have been a sudden sprint from her Lucky Charms after hearing her brother's loud admission. "Is Lovi okay?" Lovino whimpered one last time into their mother's shoulder then turned to look at Feliciana and then their mother again, who opened her right arm for Feli to come and join their hug. "Your big brother is fine, right Lovi? There's nothing for you to cry about now, Feli, understand?" Mrs. Vargas plucked at her younger's auburn bangs and one front lock that always curled but that her daughter liked that way and sometimes made her mommy hairspray it so it stuck out even more. "You two will _always_ have Mommy to run to like this, but school is just as important to have as I am! Friends are very important to make, right Feli?" Cute curly head bobbing. "And learning is even _more_ important to do in school, Lovino!" Wide questioning hazel eyes. "My babies can make as many or as little friends as they want or don't want, but the most important thing to meet in school is _books_!"

Then _there_ was Lovino's smile. Her son always loved books. Daddy read to the twins every night even before they were born. Lovino loved his daddy; Daddy was synonymous with books. Feli loved books just as much, but she was closer to Mommy than Daddy. Books meant more to Lovino at this stage, but as least just as much to Feli, who rejoiced the prospect of new books to read and bounced up and down with Lovino's hands now in hers with her big brother of course telling her to knock it off after a couple seconds. "But why do we still need teachers if we'll always have you?" The kids were too quick and Feli was too bubbly to ask just yet. "Think of your teachers," Mrs. Vargas breathe-smiled "as Mommy and Daddy when Mommy isn't around!"

The happy little Vargas family hugged again, this time more tightly for good measure, then Feli pulled Lovino downstairs for breakfast – Lovi didn't like Lucky Charms because they were too sweet but loved Cocoa Krispies – and enjoyed the sugary cereal they were allowed to eat with their toast and melon, because it was a special occasion, with Mrs. Vargas making sure Feli actually ate all the vitamin-packed brown pieces and Lovino drank all his chocolatey milk. Then Feli bounded back upstairs and pulled off her pink nightgown and tried to put her own uniform on by herself while Mrs. Vargas helped Lovino with his. Lovino was able to button his dungarees and jacket by himself, and Feliciana kept putting her plaid suspender skirt on backwards by mistake and was laughing about it when Mommy came in to help. She also wanted to wear white tights and the matching pink plaid bow in her hair that she had spotted in the little girls' section of the local children's store last week and just _had_ to have because it was going to go so perfectly with her little pink plaid kindergarten skirt. Mrs. Vargas reminded the twins to pull their little red hats on and to wear them whenever they were walking to or from school and then everyone was out the front door of their little cottage. Mrs. Vargas was wearing a long-sleeved burgundy dress and heels to her twins' entrance ceremony here in their little European hamlet in east Asia and she couldn't have felt more fulfilled that morning. Lovi and Feli were fragile, but she knew they would do fine here, at least during kindergarten.

* * *

Meanwhile in that same little hamlet in Japan and preparing for pretty much the same unprecedented event was a former graduate student and recently turned educational professional who was barely out of young adulthood. Admittedly, Antonio was pissed at himself that he had slept right up to when his alarm clock went off and then hit the snooze button twice and slept in for another forty-five minutes, especially on the morning of his first day as a kindergarten teacher, but he knew at this point in his life that he honestly should have expected better of himself. So he swallowed his annoyance and hastily shaved off what little stubble he had for good measure, brushed his teeth and hair with the correct respective implements this time, threw on a light blue button-down and khakis that had both been pressed and hung in his wardrobe the night before because he could at least do that much, and ran out the door with a strawberry granola bar in his mouth and his messenger bag over his shoulder with about fifteen minutes to bike almost halfway across town from his single apartment.

Honestly, he was worried about the rest of his life if he was going to keep to the same morning routine he had had all through college!

Luckily, the ride to Little Veggie Kindergarten wasn't bad as traffic was pretty slow before eight in the morning. Antonio got to the aforementioned building within ten minutes, more than enough time to walk his bike the rest of the way across the bridge that led to the little schoolhouse. It was early April and the cherry blossom trees were blooming, reflecting a large amount of soft pink off the underlying river which was almost like a little moat bordering part of the school. Little kids would love playing there during the summer. Antonio liked looking at the cherry blossoms here. It reminded him that leisure existed not only in his native country and that he thus need not completely trade his carefree persona for an unbearably strong work ethic.

The kindergarten came into better and better view and Antonio noticed – had he really not had a prior chance to visit the building before starting his new job? – that it was comprised of four conjoined structures in the shapes of four very identifiable giant produce items. _Oh_ , so the name of the school made a lot more sense now! Little Veggie Kindergarten's classrooms must be divided up into four classes, each named after a Veggie! Picking out each class title was a no-brainer from that point: There was a giant purple eggplant (or would they call it an aubergine here?), a leafy Brussels sprout, a stout orange carrot, and a bright red…

"Tomatoes are not vegetables," Antonio said, stopped in his path. "And for the record, neither are eggplants." The deadpan voice startled Antonio almost out of his skin and caused him to turn and finally notice the tall (and tall-haired) man clad in a light gray trench coat and blue-and-white-striped scarf leaning over the side of the bridge. He must have been staring at the cherry blossoms as well.

"I suppose you're the new instructor here, as you look fairly young albeit well-dressed." Firm handshake. "My name is Køhler, but please call me Matthias. I'm from the Netherlands. Did you move here for work as well?" People around here usually told each other what country in Europe they were originally from and not many more specifics. It was a local quirk.

"Uh, yes, I moved here about two years ago. My name is Carriedo, but please call me Antonio! I hail from Spain." This guy was really straightforward and Antonio hadn't made small talk with strangers for a while. He had just made a change of apartment and had spent a lot of time preparing for this job. He had the pedagogy-and-Japanese-culture-packed bookshelf to prove it.

"Classes begin at 9 a.m. and the ceremony begins at 8:30. We have approximately twenty minutes for you to meet the rest of the staff. Please come this way." Then Matthias was directing Antonio to the front of the building – the _aubergine_ , as was clarified seconds later – and signaling him to lock his bicycle into the small rack off to the side. "We generally do not allow adult bicycles on the campus, so please decide upon an alternative method of transportation by next week lest you risk scaring students during their commute." _Damn._ Well, he could certainly catch the local train as a last resort. Walking may not be too much of a feat, either; he was getting his much-needed lower body exercise either way.

Antonio found out that Matthias taught the second-year Carrot class and had been working at the Kindergarten for four years. The rest of the Little Veggie staff were luckily much more leisurely in their conversation. The principal was an older man named Braginski, who wore a scarf like Matthias and warmly commanded Antonio to refer to him as Ivan and to come to him if he ever needed assistance or advice. Bella Dupont, a young woman with short blonde hair held back by a cute green ribbon, who was interestingly Matthias' paternal cousin from Belgium, taught the first-year Brussels Sprout class and everyone laughed at whether that was a coincidence on principal Braginski's part; she had been teaching for six years and was partially why Matthias has scored employment there. A young woman named Victoria Laroche cheerfully told everyone that she hailed from a beautiful island country called Seychelles, was entering her third year of teaching kindergarten and would be in charge of the second-year Aubergine class.

And Antonio himself, who announced confidently that he hailed from Spain, deduced aloud that he would be teaching the first-year Tomato class. "Don't worry about teaching younger kids early on; we usually like to assign one seasoned instructor and one fresh instructor to teaching first-years as a training method. It's rather intense for newcomers like you, but we've found that it's effective in molding good educators," Bella clarified. "And of course, don't hesitate to come and knock on my door if you're ever unsure about anything!"

Slightly abashed, Antonio spent the next fifteen or so minutes setting up the last of the parents' chairs for the ceremony. Luckily the staff room at LVK had a coffee machine, so Antonio helped himself to a few sips until the children began to arrive.

"Okay, let me remind everybody who is familiar with this school's customs and inform those of us who are newcomers," Principal Braginski announced from the main staff desk. "Little Veggie Kindergarten is in many ways an experimental preschool, and has been constructed and planned specifically for those children who reside in this small town in our outer region of Japan, sometimes affectionately referred to as Euronook by outsiders." Fond smiles from Matthias and Bella as well as Braginski. "LVK has run for approximately seven years, and in those seven years its small family of staff – some currently retired – have made quite a few fond memories. So, let us carry on the tradition of warmth, cooperation, and international respect during this school year." Calm pause, and a slow turn and slight bow. " _Señor Carriedo_ , we hope that you will become a dear family member to us." Handshake with Principal Braginski, then amongst each other.

* * *

"All students wearing purple school hats, please gather around the flag with the aubergine on it; and lastly, those wearing red school hats, please gather around the flag with the tomato on it! Mr. Antonio Carriedo will be teaching the Tomato class this year!"

Antonio tried to keep a casual and friendly stance with his fiddling hands jammed into his pants pockets as child after child gathered around him excitedly. Bella was doing a decent job at directing everybody (mostly parents) to each child's respective instructor. Most kids aged four to five didn't know what an aubergine was without a picture, and each flag's colored trim was more noticeable even to him than the small vegetable (or _fruit_ ) in the center. Occasionally he called out into the crowd that he was the final destination for children with red hats. How unique; most Japanese kindergartens issued the standard yellow hat for all students; Little Veggie issued hats of _four_ different colors – purple, orange, green, or red – depending on the student's class. How fun and exciting it must be for the kids!

Speaking of the kids, Antonio really couldn't contain himself even though he knew he would be faced with this very situation eventually. Four to five kids were constantly moving around each other in front of him, and despite noticing by now that the class sizes at LVK were relatively small, the little group from his amplified perspective looked like a class of two dozen four-year-olds. The fact that he would be _in charge_ of these kids for an entire school year made managing such a responsibility seem far less possible. _Let's see, how many were there now? One, two, three…hey, don't move away! Oh no, I should be ordering everyone to sit still so I can count heads. Oh, but what if I sound more stern than I intended? I don't want to look like a bad guy so early on!_ Ah, a little girl with a pink bow just ran up to the mat and was now staring up at him curiously. _Okay, so that's four, five with a big teddy bear, wait were those allowed? Probably yes for first years, how many more are there here…_

"One more!" Suddenly, a tall and slender woman with dark brown curls, chic crimson glasses and matching attire came running up to him with a little boy with equally dark hair under a red kindergarten hat in her arms. "Sorry, I have one little ball of energy and bashful biscuit." She was genuinely laughing to herself at her situation. The girl with the pink bow looked an awful lot like this woman and the boy, but her hair was much lighter in comparison. So he had a pair of fraternal twins in his first year class?

"Oh, ah, it's quite alright!" Thank goodness he caught himself; the girl may have been about to ask her mommy what was wrong with the man. "My name is Mr. Carriedo, and from the color of your child's hat it looks like he's in my class! And is this little girl also yours?" Antonio put a hand on the pink-bowed girl's head, causing a bubbly giggle. The boy looked at this exchange and moved in his mother's arms nervously.

The woman maintained her smile. "Yes, that's my little Feliciana! And this," sudden set down of the shy boy who looked a little alarmed before getting his footing then seeming to feign confidence "is my Lovino, who is older by six minutes!" Wink at her son. "We're the Vargas family, and we've been residents of Euronook for about eighteen months now. Originally from Italy. It's so nice to finally meet my children's kindergarten teacher!" Surprisingly firm handshake, and very cheerful demeanor. Strong perfume scent; it nearly caught Antonio off guard. Be professional!

"It's very nice to meet you as well, _Signora Vargas_." Smile at his formality. "I'm very happy to know that I'll be teaching a pair of twins this year, and can assure you that Lovino and Feliciana will be extremely safe under my guidance!" Smile; use your charm. "We're about to start the entrance ceremony, so please feel welcome to go and take a seat with the rest of the parents." Reluctant release of her hand, and a genuine smile himself at the promise that she'll see him again very soon. One last peck on each child's chubby cheek, then off into the sea of other parents. _Very soon._ For the twins, of course! Haha.

 _Professional._ Antonio looked down at what seemed now to be his entire class, which comprised a total of six students. Noting the children already settled, he moved onto the newcomers. Feliciana was trying to make conversation with a girl with long, wavy brown hair. She seemed like the naturally social type. The girls were exchanging complimentaries about each other's pink plaid bow and flower barrette. Lovino, on the other hand, was facing away from the rest of the class. It looked like he was trying to find his mother's face in the audience. It was a bit painful to watch. Next thing Antonio knew, he was placing a hand on Lovino's shoulder, and there was an immediate turn around and sharp stare then a head drop down to the mat. "Hey little buddy, the ceremony's not going to start for another couple of minutes. Why don't you try to make some friends?"

 _Friends._ A quick glance at his sister and the wavy-haired girl, who was admittedly speaking a little loudly, and then onto the rest of the class, who were all male. There was the boy with the giant white teddy bear, whom Antonio now noticed sported glasses, dirty blonde hair and seemed almost as reserved as Lovino; then, there was another blond boy, who was talking at an appropriate volume with a small boy – whom Antonio noticed looked very Japanese. There admittedly weren't that many actual Japanese people, or non-Asians in general, in Euronook. It may be a little confusing for him here; Antonio had to be sure to be as inclusive as possible.

The boy with the teddy bear was the only other child who wasn't talking to anyone; so, Antonio naturally tried to break the ice for both of them and abruptly guided Lovino over to sit on the mat next to the blond. "Why don't you two introduce yourselves? What's your name, kiddo?" He ruffled the blond boy's hair, and luckily _surprisingly thankfully_ got a peer out from the white bear. "Matthew." Whispering. At least this one had _said_ something. Lovino was still silent. Antonio was going to encourage noise, then. Knelt down to their level, placed each hand on a small shoulder. "Matthew, this is Lovino, one of your classmates! Lovino, isn't Matthew's polar bear nice!" Tightening around the bear. "I bet Lovino has some toys at home that he likes just as much as you like your teddy bear, Matthew! I know, why don't you two talk about your favorite toys and games!" Wow, that was _horrible._ If he were the four-year-old in this situation, he probably would have slapped himself for being so patronizing. No, no, kids don't actually think like that; if that were the case, more people would be miserable. Wait, many people are miserable. What is misery? You're overthinking it. Wristwatch. It's almost 8:30 sharp. Let Lovino and Matthew try to utter a couple more words. Looking around; the rest of the Tomato class was occupied. What are the other students' classmates like? He supposed he could get a quick peek for now.

Victoria's class was on the other side of the yard; Bella's class was directly across, and Antonio could see a fair amount of Matthias' second-year class. It looked like Bella had the same amount of students as Antonio and Matthias had one less; was it common for second-year classes to be smaller here? Oh goodness, are the students tested to a very high standard? No, likely not; the school is still fairly young. Bella had three little girls and Matthias looked to have two. Antonio could just make out that one of Matthias' students also sported glasses; could he be an older brother to Matthew? The hair color seemed similar enough. He could very well have been mistaken, but Antonio thought he saw a little girl in Victoria's second-year class with _white_ hair; hopefully there was no pressing health concerns as the child's skin also seemed very light from what he could tell. He would have to ask Victoria about the student later. How interesting!

Then the school chime; it was time for the entrance ceremony to commence. Antonio introduced himself as Little Veggie Kindergarten's newest staff member, and stated that he looked forward to teaching the first-year Tomato class. His speech seemed to have been flawless, as there was what appeared to have been a genuine round of applause from the parents. He caught and mildly chastised himself for searching out Mrs. Vargas within the crowd.

* * *

"So! I'm Mr. Carriedo, and you will all be my little Tomatoes this year! Welcome to my class!" Yellow pastel paint with light wood floorboards and a few trees, clouds, and a couple families of birds drawn on the walls. Tomato plants with ripe painted imitations abound beneath the trees. One, two claps from himself as six students sit around three low and bright-blue-colored tables. Lovino and Feliciana at the far right, by the window; Matthew and Kiku in the center; and Ludwig and Elizaveta at the far left. Pink and blue chairs to denote genders, and small plastic nametags on the tables with similar colors and cutesy designs. Did such gender stereotypes really need to be enforced nowadays? Down with the pink skirts; his mind was wandering.

"We will not be having any official lessons today as you have just begun kindergarten, but we _will_ be doing an activity to get to know each other better!" An _activity_. He was already using jargon. A raised hand. The wavy-haired girl. "Ah, yes?"

"Can I sit closer to Feliciana, please?"

Oh, dear; a potential predicament. "I may change the seating arrangements in a bit, but please stay put for now, dear." Small pout and a giggle from Feliciana across the room.

"Now, what we are going to do now is introduce ourselves. I would like everyone to stand up and tell us your name, where you are from, and something you like to do outside of school. Elizabeta, you're the farthest to the left, so could you please start?"

The wavy-haired girl, Elizabeta from her name tag, jumped up and ran to the front of the classroom. "My name is Elizabeta, I'm from hungry, no, _Hungary!_ And outside of school I like to have mud fights with my neighbor Maria! She's got white hair! Oh, and I like to jump all over my other neighbor Roderich but I don't get to play with him as much because he likes his mommy's piano." Interesting info; could this Maria be the white-haired girl he thought he saw earlier? This was tiny Euronook; it was likely. "Thank you, Elizabeta, that was very good! Next up, Ludwig, please!"

The blonde boy who was engaged in a conversation with the Japanese child before the ceremony stood up and walked politely up to the blackboard as Elizabeta bounded back to her seat. "My name is Ludwig, my family is from Germany, and outside of school," hesitance "I like to read and play with my dogs, and make sure my big sister Maria doesn't get into trouble." _Oh, the joy of small towns!_ This seemed way too picturesque; it almost sounded like something out of a cute children's story. "Thank you, Ludwig! That was wonderful! Maybe you can bring your dogs to class for Pet Day!" Ludwig grinned, then sat back down. This school did have some sort of day for pets, right? What a let down on his part if not. He had to be less absent-minded.

"Kiku, you're up next. Could you go to the front of the board, please?" Antonio had a perfect view from his desk in the front corner opposite the door; he could take note of everyone's facial expressions. Lovino was mildly fixated on the window and Feliciana was very interested in the blue and pink birds on the walls. Elizabeta was trying to get Feliciana's attention and Ludwig was patiently staring at Kiku.

"My name is Kiku, I am from this country Japan, and during playtime I like to fold _origami_ with my mother. She and Grandma teach it for a living." Kiku calmly sat back down. "Thank you very much, Kiku! Maybe you can teach us how to do some origami later this year!" The boy smiled and a few "ohhhhh"s were gotten. Yes; score one for successful inclusion!

Next up was the shy Matthew. "Matthew, you're up! Please come to the front of the classroom." Matthew slowly, _slowly_ stood up and nervously walked up to the blackboard. He stuttered a little. "M–My n–name is Matthew, and I'm from the Ignited, no, _Un_ ited States of America. When I'm having fun I like to play with my teddy bear and my big brother, Alfred, and our cat, Hero." Opportunity. "That's all very interesting, Matthew! Does your brother go to school here?" Nod. "He's in Carrot class. He's five years old." Lucky Matthias. "Thank you very much. You can sit back down now." Matthew nodded, started to walk, hesitated, then held his teddy bear out for everyone to see. "T–This is my favorite toy, _Kumajirou_. Mommy and Daddy and Alfred got it for me when we moved here to Japan. I love him very much." Antonio grinned, clapped, and then everyone else clapped. Matthew went back to his seat with a smile.

"Feliciana, you're up next!" Feliciana squealed, bounced up, ran up to the front of the classroom, and bounced in place. Lovino wasn't really looking. "My name is Feliciana Vargas, I have a twin brother Lovino who's also my big brother, we're from Italy, and when I'm not in school I like to dress up and eat Lucky Charms and watch cartoons and go on walks with Lovino and Mommy and cook with Mommy and have pillow fights with Lovino after bedtime and water Mommy's flowers with Lovino and guess what else? I also like talking to my new friend, Elizabeta, who's in this same class and likes my bow and I like her pink flower and we want to have sleepovers together and most of all, I want to make lots of friends with kids and books and I want my big brother Lovino to make friends too, but not just with books!"

Then Elizabeta jumped up and ran to hug Feliciana. " _I love Feliciana!_ " The two of them bounced together before Antonio guided Elizabeta to sit back down. Those two were definitely _not_ going to sit next to each other during lessons. Back at his own desk, Antonio commended Feliciana. "That was very good, Feliciana! But, please try to be a bit more serious in the future, honey!"

"Okay!" Damn, cute. Feliciana clumsily skipped back to her seat and tried to get her brother's attention. Speaking of which, Silent Lovino was last to go. After a performance like that from his sister and from Matthew before her, Antonio felt kind of bad for the kid. "Lovino, you're up next! Could you please come to the front of the room?"

And then Lovino tensed. He was looking out the window before and wasn't really moving, but this time he didn't move _at all_ and kept his gaze fixed on the blue sky. Ow. Okay, Antonio didn't want to single the kid out by asking him to come up ad introduce himself a second time, but he also didn't want to waste class time by waiting for a self-introduction that may never come on its own. What to do? Realistically, he had to concede to the second option if he wanted to avoid embarrassing the kid. He checked his watch. It was almost lunch time – it wasn't like he could let Lovino wait to be saved by the bell, but he could certainly give him some time to mentally prepare. Right?

About thirty seconds passed. Feliciana poked her brother. Ludwig and a couple of the others turned to look at Lovino, confused about what they were supposed to do. Feliciana touched Lovino again, this time touching his hand, and rubbed it, making Lovino move a little. His head turned and he looked at his sister, then at Antonio – he was sure to nod for Lovino to come up and speak – and then noticed the other students staring at him. Staring. Feliciana noticed too, then decidedly grabbed her brother's hand even tighter and guided him up to the blackboard. Lovino was looking down now, face turning red – _fitting for the Tomato class_ – Antonio chuckled in his mind then inwardly smacked himself, and Feliciana moved her little hands to Lovino's chin and gently lifted it up to look at the rest of the class.

Lovino stared at the back wall, then at the students at the center tables, then at the English and Japanese _hiragana_ alphabets lining the walls just below the ceiling, then at the bookshelf in the back of the room for at least a good ten seconds, then at the overflowing toy chest off to the side of the bookshelf then at the window again, then at Mr. Carriedo, then at Feliciana who was smiling and bouncing a go-ahead, then _finally_ to the front of the class, staring at nothing in particular except for the inevitable Back Wall. He had been clutching his shirt for much of his visual tour; his mouth was twitching upward now, and Antonio thought he might be trying to speak. Was he really that nervous? Could he not open his mouth because he was so _scared_?

Let's see, what did he learn to do in a situation like this in school? Verbal prodding? That made it sound bad. Let's call it verbal encouragement. Well, it has been this long already. Two minutes until lunch now. _Just say your name and sit back down, kid; it isn't that hard!_ Boy, he could be insensitive in his reverie. Right, address the task at hand. "Can you tell us your name, little guy?" Foolproof; there was more Twitching after that. "L-La." Yes. Almost. Clutching shirt. "Lo-vi-no." Yes; achievement unlocked! "Very good! Did everyone hear that?" Kiku and Ludwig smiled. "Now, what do you like to do for fun, Lovino?"

Feliciana looked over at Antonio and looked like she wanted to take over for her brother. _Sorry, kid, no bail around here._ Antonio looked back at Lovino, and Feliciana followed his eyes. She tried to help anyway. He couldn't blame her for not getting it; they were all only four. "Lovino and I like to –"

" _NO._ " Startle. Lovino was clutching his shirt tighter now. Shiny stuff. Were tears forming? Crap; maybe this job isn't cut out for men. Damn; now _he_ was being sexist. "I– _I can do it!_ " Loud; very, very loud, compared to the rest of the morning. Kiku and Elizabeta tilted their heads confusedly; wow, people actually tilted their heads? Must be a kid thing. Embarrassment. Lovino had noticed the head tilts. The rest of the class was confused now. Feliciana wasn't bouncing anymore.

The classroom doors had knobs low enough for the students to reach to ensure optimal safety. Lovino suddenly turned away from his sister and Antonio and ran straight out of the classroom.

…

Well.

Thank goodness the first day of school ended right after lunch?

More importantly, what would Mrs. Vargas and Principal Braginski think of him?

Antonio all-too-cheerfully ordered everyone to get their lunch out and made sure that Feliciana was clear on not leaving the classroom, with Elizabeta more or less annoyingly making _sure_ she would stay put. After knocking on Bella's door – thankfully her students were in the middle of eating and could be left unattended for a moment – he searched for Lovino with her help. They found him crying heavily with his knees drawn into him on an alcove bench. Pretty much unable to talk, Lovino sat on that same bench with Antonio for the remainder of the day. Antonio wasn't sure if trying to give actual advice would be effective, so he just rubbed the child's back in what was hopefully a soothing rhythm as he ate his PB &J and apple slices.

There was always tomorrow to make friends.

* * *

So! Hello; thanks for scrolling down this far, regardless of whether you've actually read the above narrative. I haven't written fan-fiction in a long time; this idea has been brewing in my mind for months years, and I did have a draft of it before, but I didn't like how it turned out. I hadn't pounded out the details quite yet, and have really attempted to do so here. I like to write as a hobby, a LOT, but I've never been too confident with fiction. I kept thinking that my narration was too drawn out or beat around the bush too much or remained on the little details for too damn long. For instance, I tried to have this at under five thousand words, but then I just kept going, and next thing I knew I was at around 6100 words. Whoops! Well, I honestly am proud of it. I literally just sat down this evening and typed all this out in one go, then proofread it; so naturally, there may be a few glaring blemishes. Hmm, I'm rambling. Sorry!

Okay, here are the actual footnotes I want to give:

\- I wholly plan to make this story into a series. I already have a character map, which I can upload as another footnote upon request.

\- Speaking of requests, I would also like to take them once this story is a few chapters in. You guys can tell me what character groupings you would like to see and in which plot settings (within reason!).

\- Please keep in mind that I am not a pedagogue myself and may come off as extremely childish to older people when I write out adult-child interactions.

\- I have never experienced myself the Japanese educational system; I am only going by what I have read on the internet.

\- I am avoiding the nitty-gritty details of language for the time being to keep things simple. One can assume that most everyone in Euronook (Euro – nook! Little nook of Europe!) speaks well enough Japanese.

\- Lovino and Feliciano are not canonically twins; that is a fact. However, I am decidedly making fem!Feli the younger twin sister of Lovi for this fanfic. I also have plans for a fem!Gilbert (hinted at here a few times) and a fem!Toris later on.

\- The fact that I got back into Hetalia this quickly in an evening so I could write this out sort of staggers me. My sincere apologies if I make any glaring mistakes; I'm am older fan. I've liked Hetalia since 2009 but haven't been a serious fan in a couple years.

\- I've admittedly used run-on sentences a lot more here than I normally do. This was mostly because I was trying to get a feel for my writing – and, honestly, that's how I see the characters talking internally. Though this is definitely open to interpretation. I likely won't run on so much in the future.

\- This is not a crossover, but it is inspired from another anime that I watched a couple times as a teenager. It was called _Hanamaru Youchien_ and it was vapid and had annoying voice acting, but damn was it addictively freaking cute. Saccharine. That's the word. I also got some inspiration several months ago from a Zerochan fanart piece of Spain and Belgium as teachers in a Japanese kindergarten and the Italy brothers, Hungary, and a few others as students. (Please accept my personal thanks here if you come across this, Artist.)

\- Please, PLEASE let me know what you guys think of the concept overall, as well as my writing style. As I mentioned, I haven't written fan-fiction, or fiction for that matter – actually, I haven't WRITTEN – in a long time. History major turned Biology and Physics double major. Fun times. Now writing for fun near the end of my Spring break. I seem to do well with the "write a chapter all in one go" method so I would like to see if I can maintain that. It certainly acts as a release. Back to my main point. Mainly, I would like to know if this community finds this story to be interesting and if I should alter or omit certain things in my next chapter update. For instance, if something I included here offended somebody, then I would be sure not to include that thing again. Additionally, my writing style. I tried to think like a little kid would think as I wrote the first section of this piece, and then I took on a more adult (well, young adult; twentysomethings apparently aren't supposed to be uber secure – I would know, I am one) lexicon. If anyone likes or dislikes this style of writing, or if anyone who has been writing for much longer than I have finds it unbecoming or good or bad or whatever, then I would very much like to know.

\- Oh bloody hell, that last footnote was way too long. Lastly, thank you for reading if you did read the entire chapter (and my footnotes; you have much patience), and I would be extremely grateful of any reviews or feedback of any kind, be it critical or not! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: Discoveries!

Greetings! So I realize that putting off the second chapter of a story is likely a very bad way to receive positive feedback, or feedback in general. For that, I am very sorry. I'm in university and I had a lot of tests for which to prepare right after returning from Spring break. (For people younger than myself, rest assured that that is generally not the norm; I'm just a failing overachiever. Well, not _literally_ failing. I mean in terms of stamina.) Oh yes, and then I had final exams and a lot of advising meetings. Apparently, the subject of a Bachelor's degree means nothing. Whoever knew except everybody who lets unnecessary struggles happen? Well, struggles are necessary for growth. Never mind; I'm writing precisely not to think about it! 😊

In any case, you'll find below the second chapter! For those of you who didn't just scroll down immediately upon landing at this webpage, I'll be trying out personal notes at the top of the content this time. Please let me know what you prefer, if you're not indifferent, because I will adjust things according to my readers' preferences.

This chapter, as opposed to last week's, will be much more light-hearted, as we are now getting into the actual meat (apologies to the verbal vegans around here) and underlying purpose of the story: Cute Hetalian kindergartners! Much of the first chapter was so saddening as a ploy to effectively introduce the main characters. The Vargas family is loving as can be, but the kiddies are going through some turmoil. Lovino has it a little worse than his baby sister and has trouble talking to people as a result, but don't worry, things will NOT be as painfully sad as last time for quite a few chapters. Also, what happened to Daddy was most certainly not death. Be assured!

I've typed up too many paragraphs of irrelevant prose, so without further ado (no nonsensical goodbyes here!), here's Chapter 2 of LVK. To those of you who have already favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story, _THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY FIC!_ Hopefully I can continue pleasing people!

* * *

Little Veggie Kindergarten

Chapter 2: "Discoveries! The Seal, the Slides and the Library"

Lovino was feeling better about yesterday. He still didn't want to be here at school very much, but a movie night after homemade spaghetti and then ice cream with Mommy and Feli before another family pep talk right before bedtime had made him much less nervous.

Mommy reminded both of them that their teacher was going to keep taking care of them and would be there for Lovi and Feli if one of them got nervous again. At the end of school that day, she had thanked Mr. Carriedo personally for comforting Lovino. He said it was no big deal.

Then she made Lovino promise that he would remember there was no reason to be afraid of the other kids and Feliciana promise that she would _please_ be quieter in class from now on. They had all laughed about that, but Mrs. Vargas made sure her daughter understood.

Now Lovino stood in front of the small bookshelf in the back of their kindergarten classroom on the first full day of school. Teacher Antonio was right outside the door at the moment and wasn't checking to see if Lovino was talking to anyone. Lovino still didn't want to talk to other kids after yesterday. He did promise Mommy that he would, but he wasn't ready first thing in the morning. He almost couldn't eat his toast thinking about it before leaving.

He would talk to someone soon, just not now. He leaned in closer to the crowded bookshelf and pulled out a thin one with a purple bind. The cover had a little seal smiling happily while rolling little round balls toward a starfish and a seahorse. It was titled "Little Seal's First Adventure". He sat down into one of the tiny bean bags nearby and started reading.

 _This is Little Seal. He loves playing with marbles and eating seaweed cookies. Little Seal didn't have any brothers or sisters, but his Mommy and Daddy always played with him._

Lovino missed his Daddy. He and Feli hoped he would come home to Euronook soon.

 _One day, Little Seal's Mommy and Daddy were both busy preparing a birthday party for Little Seal. But Little Seal didn't know about the party! All Mommy and Daddy told him was that it was a surprise that he would love when it was ready. But he couldn't see what it was just yet._

" _Why don't you go and play outside in the front yard," they told Little Seal. "Then you'll be very happy when you return home!"_

 _So Little Seal went to play outside. The front yard was much less private than the Seals' backyard and only had a coral fence dividing their lawn from the neighbors'. People could see Little Seal playing and Little Seal could see them._

 _Little Seal decided to go get his marbles from the back yard. He pushed them back and forth with twigs. He loved seeing how fast each one could go._

 _Suddenly, a starfish and a seahorse turned a corner and saw Little Seal playing marbles by himself. Little Seal had never seen them before, and he didn't know what to do._

" _Hello!"_

Lovino looked up, startled. The boy who had the stuffed white teddy bear yesterday was looking down at him reading. His name tag said Matthew, but Lovino remembered his name.

"You ran away yesterday, and I was worried. But Ms. Dupont wouldn't let me go find you! Are you okay now?"

Lovino couldn't talk in front of the class because a lot of the other kids were loud. But Matthew wasn't loud. He talked a lot more than Lovino did, but he looked like Lovino could talk back to him. Then Lovino tried.

"Yes."

Matthew smiled. "Good! Are you reading the Little Seal? The author for him writes my favorite book!"

Shy again, Lovino showed Matthew the cover to affirm. Then Matthew beamed. "Hey, maybe they have my favorite here, too!" Then he quickly crouched toward the bookshelf, looked back and forth, then made a fast "Aha!" and pulled out another thin book, this time with a light blue binding.

He walked back over to Lovino, pulled up another tiny bean bag, and sat down really close. "The author for Little Seal also writes my favorite book! This is Kumajirou's first story!" Then he jumped up, ran over to his desk seat, and came back with the white bear from yesterday. "Mommy and Daddy say this is _official merchandise_! I got him last year when we moved to Euronook!"

Lovino squirmed a bit. He was _talking to someone_! "He looks fluffy." Matthew smiled again. "Yeah, he is! Everyone in his story say he's soft as snow! _I know!_ Do you want to read together! We can take turns! I've never read Little Seal all the way through! Do you want to read to me first?"

Then Lovino smiled. "Sure." He flipped back to the beginning of the storybook. "This is Little Seal. He loves playing with marbles and eating seaweed cookies." Matthew leaned on his side in his bean bag and hugged Kumajirou, smiling at his New Friend reading to him.

Meanwhile, Feliciana and Elizabeta were drawing kitties and ponies on the blackboard with colored chalk. Elizabeta was wearing a blue flower barrette today and Feliciana was wearing a plaid blue bow. They had decided after school yesterday that they were going to try to match every day.

Just then, Elizabeta looked around the room and noticed Matthew and Feli's brother reading to each other. "Hey, Feli, your brother and the Bear Kid are reading!"

Feli turned and gasped, happily surprised. "Veh? _Yay!_ Lo-vi-no!" Just as she started running, Elizabeta grabbed her hand and covered her mouth. "No! Let them keep talking by themselves! Mommy says flowers don't grow without enough room!" Feliciana looked up sadly, but nodded anyway. Then Elizabeta noticed that Mr. Carriedo was no longer right outside the door. In fact, she couldn't see his head through the window at all!

"Hey, Feli," she started slowly. Feli was rearranging the chalks according to color and asked what absentmindedly. "I don't see Mr. Carriedo anywhere." That was when Feli looked up. The two of them bounded to the door and peered out and around both sides of the hallway. Then they exchanged a surprised look.

"Do you think someone else is coming to take over the class?" Feli asked.

"I dunno," Liz wondered. Then, she grinned and Feli tilted her head a little nervously. "Hey, Feli… We haven't seen any of the rest of the kindergarten for ourselves yet, have we?" Feli put her hands to her mouth, shook her head, and said they shouldn't go off by themselves. "But it'll be _fun_!" Liz gripped Feli's shoulders, but Feli shook her head quickly.

"Hmm, what if we take Ludwig with us? I'm sure Mr. Carriedo won't worry then, 'cause Ludwig's quiet and 'sponsible."

Honestly, Feli was a little mischievous. She once snuck into Mommy's room to try on her lipstick and hair ribbons. She didn't get caught because she was quiet and washed off the makeup with toothpaste before Lovi could see. Mommy asked about all the things thrown onto her vanity later, though. But if she was careful about objects _now_ , she wouldn't get caught! Especially if someone like Ludwig made sure to put things back in their place! "Okay!" Then the two ran up to Ludwig, who was making towers with Kiku, and grabbed an arm before running out of the classroom. Kiku, confused, decided to go after them, but he left a note on the board for the teacher first.

* * *

Little Veggie Kindergarten was _huge_ , and Feli and Liz were able to run side-by-side with their arms spread out at full speed with no problem. Ludwig and Kiku kept trying to grab them, but they couldn't keep up. Eventually, the girls convinced them that they had a fantastic opportunity to explore the school on their own, and if they didn't take it then there was no point in even _going_ to school.

Beaten, the boys clambered after Liz and Feli up the main staircase. All the floors and stairs were made of dark wood but had a very soft, sanded-down feel when someone touched it or ran on it. They could tell what part of the building they were in by what color the walls were painted. The walls split into orange and lavender corridors at the top of the staircase. The girls ran for the purple side and Ludwig and Kiku idled after.

Feli opened the first sliding door that wasn't locked, which was a small library. All four children looked around at the shelves made to fit their size. Ludwig was in awe and Kiku said that the room would be a very good hiding place. Feliciana jumped excitedly. "I have to show this to Lovino after school today! And his new friend!"

"It can be a secret twins' hideout," Kiku thought.

"I wanna have tea here during lunchtime," Ludwig stated.

"Maybe Mr. Carriedo will let us up here later! We can bring snacks and little pillows," Liz mused. Feli squealed, bounded out of the library, and ran over to the orange corridor. The others immediately ran after her. "Hey, Feli, be quieter or we'll get caught!"

Feli could run really fast. She made it all the way to the middle of the Carrot hallway before anyone else and found that another, very large, door was opened. She peered in and saw a lot of different things inside. Big rubber balls, taped up boxes, pet cages, and what even looked like a dharma doll. She stepped up closer to the object and tried to have a staring contest with it, but turned away when the other kids caught up with her.

"Look, everyone, I found a mixed bag room!"

"It's a supply closet," Ludwig echoed as he stepped in and looked up and around. Liz immediately went for the big red ball in the corner. "Feli, early Sports Festival! _Race!_ "

"Vee!" Feli jumped up and down, grabbed Kiku and climbed onto the other huge ball, which was a bright yellow. Liz had exited the room on the ball somehow and Feli followed after. Kiku was holding onto her for dear life and protesting "THIS ISN'T SAFE" during the ride into the hallway. Ludwig exited the closet just as Mr. Kohler had stepped up to check out the ruckus. Ludwig pointed to the upstairs foyer and then ran after his classmates. Mr. Kohler walked calmly after, saw the sports balls bouncing halfway down when he reached the staircase, and saw the kids running toward the front of the second floor opposite the roundabout railing.

"My ball made it to the bottom first, Feli! Now I get to come over to your house!"

"What? I wanna come over to _your_ house first!"

"I know, we can all go over to Ludwig's house!"

"No, Lovi will be scared of Maria!"

"Everyone's scared of Maria," Liz reminded.

"Look, slides," Kiku noticed. They all ran ahead of the glass and stared at the two huge, almost vertical slides leading down to the playground at the front of the school.

"Maria says the Aubergine and Carrot classes get to go down these slides every day," Ludwig explained.

"Do you think _we_ can go down them right now?" Liz' voice rose.

"They look too high," Feli worried.

"Steep," Kiku echoed. "We're smaller than Maria and her friends."

Just then, Mr. Kohler walked up from behind. "Teachers usually slide down with the Tomatoes and Sprouts." The kids turned and ran in various directions past him, but Matthias caught up to each one and carried them back to class.

"These belong to you, _Antoine_."

"Oh, thank goodness! I was just about to set out looking for them. I'm so sorry; Bella and I should have stayed right by the door instead of heading over to her class! I'm such an idiot, and it's only the second day of school!" Antonio and Bella were making sure Lovino and Matthew stayed put, but those two children seemed oblivious to anything that was happening. Bella had taken a picture of the note the children had left Mr. Carriedo, and couldn't help but laugh at it quite a bit. She had also turned off the flash sound and snapped a picture of Lovino and Matthew without their noticing.

"Don't sweat it; I would have made the same mistake at your age. So long as you weren't trying to seduce my cousin, I'm willing to help you until you're competent." Antonio shook his head and could only laugh uneasily.

Bella's hands were semiseriously at her hips. "Now, who wrote the note on Mr. Carriedo's blackboard and where did you all run off to?"

"Me," Kiku whispered.

"We found a library and a supply closet and saw the slides!" Liz added.

"Can we go to the library during lunchtime, Mr. Teacher Antonio? Please, can we can we can we?" Antonio ruffled Feli's hair mid-bounce and said he would think about it, so long as they _told him_ where they were going from then on.

" _Vee!_ " Liz and Feli ran back into the classroom and took their seats as they were told, then talked about what they would ask their mommies to buy them for library tea snacks. "We can eat lollipops, and white chocolate rainbows, and little sprinkle cupcakes, and marshmallow kitty heads, and licorice, and…!"

Antonio sauntered up to Matt and Lovi. "Hey, you little guys have been reading here this whole time! I'm proud of you!"

Lovino and Matthew looked up, both a little startled. "Was everyone else gone?" Matthew asked.

"We were reading so long that we didn't notice it was so quiet," Lovino added timidly.

Antonio ruffled both boys' hair, told them it was time for class, and then gave them each a piece of chocolate. Lovino and Matthew exchanged a smile, then headed back to their seats. Matthew put the chocolate away in his uniform pocket while Lovino shared the small bar with his sister, who bounced once again before being shushed.

"Okay, everyone, now that we're all found and at our desks, it's time for our first full day of class!" Antonio began, moving to the large pink-and-green class schedule that he had stayed after to finish and tape near the door the previous afternoon. "Every morning, we will start with a _hiragana_ lesson! Then, we will have an arts and crafts class and do different things every week. After that, I will teach you some English, and I know that some of you should already do very well! Then we will have an exercise session with the Brussels Sprout class," (a couple "Ewww, sprouts!" at this) "learn all about the fun of numbers, and eat lunch. Finally, there will be story time and then some more play time outside before we all go home."

Next was the Tomato Board with everyone's portraits sent in by their families. "This is our Tomato Board! Everyone has a red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple tomato that they can earn by being well-behaved in class, raising their hand and asking good questions, and by helping others. If someone earns all six tomatoes one week, then they can ask Teacher Antonio to get them one thing they really want as a present."

Everyone gasped at this news and a lot of them got very excited. Elizabeta and Kiku began squealing and Feliciana began bouncing and happily flapping her hands. Some began asking questions. Ludwig raised his hand and asked if they could ask Teacher to buy them a dog. "No, no! I mean things like candy, toys, or books. I'm so sorry to have misled you!" Once everyone quieted down, Antonio continued.

"Keep in mind, though, that you can lose a tomato if you misbehave! If you push or hit someone else, take something that doesn't belong to you, or if you disobey what a teacher says, one tomato will be lost." This statement restored the rest of the order. "I hope I get to buy treats for all of you this year! Now, you can see all around our ceiling that there are European letters underneath what may look like a lot of strange squiggles. But this is one of the important Japanese alphabets, _hiragana_. Each different squiggly character is called a syllable, and they stand for different sounds we make with our mouths. This is very different from the alphabet most of your parents probably use at home sometimes, but as you practice it, both alphabets will become very easy. Every week, we'll learn how to write and say each syllable and name things in the classroom that start with it. Today, we'll start with the syllable for 'A'."

Antonio was pleased that Little Veggie Kindergarten wasn't very much like what he had heard about Japanese kindergartens in general. For starters, the class sizes were very small; a normal kindergarten classroom, he had learnt, normally held up to 35 kids, while he did not even have to manage ten. Second of all, his class wasn't nearly as loud and boisterous as he had been dreading. Yes, a lot of the kids were noisy as many kids are, but there was hardly any instance of glomping him as soon as he entered their sight, running around unsupervised (with the exception of Feli and Lizzy's scheme this morning) and absolutely _no_ instances of him getting _kancho'd_. He'd been especially relieved thus far about the past factor.

Moreover, the curriculum at LVK was exceptionally diverse. Most Japanese kindergartens solely taught the basics of _hiragana_ and arithmetic, while others were exclusively play schools with no academic discipline to speak of. Antonio assumed this was because LVK was constructed specifically for foreign children, many of whom would obviously be multilingual, and thus would benefit from getting an academic head start if they would remain in Japan. Plus, tuition wasn't all that horrible on parents and supplies aside from uniforms were mostly provided by the school, so families benefited economically as well.

Each academic lesson lasted half an hour, with the exception of a 45-minute Crafts class. Today was simple: Everyone was to draw a picture of their family. They could include any pets, their house, and maybe an activity that everyone in the household liked doing together.

Feliciana immediately bounded over to work together with Lovino. Antonio would never say this aloud, but he was interested to see how different their family pictures looked. Putting his hands on their shoulders, he said "You guys consult each other, ay?" At this Feliciana giggled and Lovino asked if "consult" meant to talk with his sister. Antonio tousled the boy's hair and affirmed, joking that he must be smart. Surprisingly, Lovino started to write the kanji symbol for "phase" with his green rayon. "Hey, you must read a lot at home, little guy!" Nod, then Lovino looked up and quietly said "Daddy reads us books. I look at the square squiggles a lot." Feli chimed in with "Daddy said we learn what you taught us today and then a lot of angles for sounds and then the square squiggles! Like what Lovi wrote!"

"Why don't you two draw your dad reading in your pictures?" Lovino switched over to drawing and Feliciana reached for a violet red crayon.

Walking around, Antonio complimented everyone's drawing. Kiku had drawn himself in front of what looked to be his parents and grandparents along with a cat and hamster cage. The background was green and divided by thin black lines. "We all live in a country house. Our cat's name is Tama and hamster's name is Hamutaro. He's my own!" Matthew had drawn himself and his brother climbing a tree with their parents playing catch underneath. Elizabeta had drawn herself, in overalls and pigtails, on what looked to be her father's shoulders and reaching up to what looked like a roof for a bird. The man was standing on what looked like a ladder." That looks dangerous! Is that your daddy?" Lizzy explained that doing dangerous things was something the two did often, and that the drawing had actually taken place the previous week. "We heard it chirping in the backyard so we went go get it down! Mommy said it was a sparrow and it injured its wing. I helped her bandage it and we're keeping it now 'til it gets better!"

"That's fantastic! Maybe it'll end up being a pet!" Lizzy gasped and bounced over to tell Feli. Before following, Antonio last looked at Ludwig's picture. He had drawn himself, his parents, and his older sister, Maria, in what looked like a park with three dogs. Their names, Aster, Berlitz, and Blackie, were written next to each one in European letters. "We got them at different times before we moved here. Only Aster is younger than me. I named him. Daddy and Maria named the others." Then he eagerly asked if bringing pets to school could be a prize for earning six tomatoes. Antonio smiled, said why not, and Ludwig beamed and turned to tell Kiku, who said he hoped he could bring Hamutaro to class.

Back at the other side of the room, Lovino was sharing his picture with Matthew and Feliciana with Elizabeta. Surprisingly, their drawings did not look that different. Lovi had drawn himself on his father's lap, facing a book, with Feli and their mother looking on and smiling nearby. He had also drawn the outside garden with a lot of flowers, and their mother seemed to be holding a pan of pasta. Feli had drawn the family seated at a picnic set in the backyard with their father reading stories and a garden also visible. The flowers in hers were a lot more prominent, and their mother was seated in the branches of a nearby tree reaching out to a butterfly. She had also drawn the blue sky along the very top of the page with a wide white gap in between it and the grass. Antonio wondered if the positions in which Feli had drawn her mother were what she herself wanted to do a lot of the time instead of sitting with her brother and their father. Lovino, on the other hand, seemed to cherish the details of their small familial world as constant background pieces and the indoors with their books as the main part of his life. Feli was talking very animatedly about how their Daddy and Mommy were, but Lovino still wasn't saying much to Matthew, who explained that his brother and dad tried a lot to get him to go outside more.

Antonio congratulated everyone on making such beautiful drawings, then hung them up one by one on the billboard adjacent to the Tomato Board. This activity had taken up the entire class period, and next came English. The lesson went smoothly as the English letter "A" went in tandem with the _hiragana_ lesson. Exercise class was taught primarily by Teacher Bella, with Antonio as a helper. The weather was nice for early April, so warm-up exercises were held in the center courtyard underneath the main school's staircase. Everyone was instructed to toss a ball back and forth to each other in groups of two, and the three pairs that made the most tosses in five minutes would each receive a red tomato (or a red sprout, depending on the class). Antonio decided to partner Lovino with Matthew and Feliciana with Kiku; both groups worked surprisingly well and came respectively in third and first place with nine and twelve throws. Ludwig was very adept at tossing and receiving, but Elizabeta was so boisterous that she could barely focus on the assigned task. Roderich Edelstein and Evalyn Paulsen, from the Aubergine class, came in second place. Bella gave Antonio a lot of praise for having twice as many students as her receiving red Veggies. "Good job to all of you guys; you were amazing!" Lovino had very good aim and catch instinct, but both he and Matthew were slow to moving. Feli, on the other hand, was on par with Lovino's dexterity and compensated for Kiku's ease. The fact that she had won, though, triggered a _lot_ of bouncing. Lili, Emil, and Peter joined in with Feli and Lizzy and Bella joked that the Tomato Bounce would have to become a weekly exercise.

Arithmetic came right after Exercise, and today was only an overview of adding and a few problems such as one plus one, which everyone found easy. Lovino cautiously raised his hand and whispered to Feli after he was called on; it turned out that he wanted to know if they would have hard math tests like where their Daddy worked. Everyone else looked scared at this, and Antonio assured them that no, there would be no tests. (In truth, one-on-one evaluations concerning basic arithmetic and alphabet would be given near the end of the term, but LVK's philosophy was that academic anxiety should not be induced in preschoolers.)

During lunch time, Feli, Lizzy, Ludwig and Kiku approached Antonio and reminded him that they had found a really cute library upstairs and that they wondered if they could start going upstairs to eat lunch there today. "We want it to be our class' secret clubhouse, and eat lunch there every day, and bring snacks from home and read!" Antonio, who had been pouring tea at his desk, mused that it wouldn't exactly be their _secret_ clubhouse if anyone inside the school could find it and walk in. "And all of you did wander off together while I wasn't here, causing me and Teacher Bella to worry and troubling Teacher Matthias with bringing you back to me. But," he added, "I suppose earning the room as a clubhouse could be a prize if one of you earns six tomatoes this week!"

Feliciana gasped, bounced, looked around, and ran over to her table and back, bringing a napkin and a piece of fruit. "Teacher Antonio, you can have a napkin and strawberry!" Kiku, watching this example, went to retrieve a small octopus-shaped sausage and held it up to Antonio triumphantly. Ludwig followed suit with two cherry tomatoes and Elizabeta provided a small cheddar cheese cube. Lovino and Matthew, noticing this, respectively brought up a baby carrot and another strawberry. Fake-sighing, Antonio conceded to having to add a tomato to everyone on the Chart, and did so after a bout of "YAY!" Feli, Lovi, Matthew and Kiku now all had orange tomatoes. "But please, I can only eat so much!" Everyone laughed.

After lunch was finished, Antonio explained that everyone was welcome to ask him to read a special story each day, but was going to show them the Japanese story of Momotaro with paintings today. Kiku raised his hand and stated that he was familiar with the story already, and wondered if he could help narrate. Antonio was very pleased at this and allowed it. Kiku was a little shy, but did a very good job of reciting the story, and was applauded by everyone. Feliciana ran up from the class' circle around Antonio's desk chair to hug him tightly, and Antonio awarded him a yellow tomato. The Clubhouse Group squealed to each other in anticipation.

The last period of the day was another thirty minutes of play time where everyone was free to do as they pleased (to which Antonio was inwardly overjoyed, as he was exhausted). It was still sunny in the early afternoon, so he brought the Tomato class onto the playground. Lovino stood idly by at first, but Matthew ventured up again with his bear and guided him by hand over to the sandbox. Ludwig tried to join in, but Feliciana quickly intervened and dragged him over to Antonio, Kiku and Elizabeta, who were begging their teacher to let them go down the slides.

The Brussels Sprout and second-year Carrot and Aubergine classes came out to the playground a minute or so after, the older kids coming down by the nearly vertical slides. Antonio mused to Bella, Matthias and Victoria, was affirmed, and then both first-year teachers gathered up everyone in their classes who wanted to try the slides. Some including Monique, Emil and Matthew were fearful, others like Feli and Peter were extremely excited, but everyone in the Tomato and Sprout classes ended up wanting to slide. The white-haired Maria whom Antonio had heard and seen about quite a bit yesterday repeatedly kept going down the slide and back up the spiraling staircase. "These things are awesome! Too awesome for Lizzy and Ludwig!" Two boys, a blonde whose name turned out to be Francis, and one who turned out to be Matthew's brother, Alfred, joined in at this. Jenny reprimanded them after the trip down and Matthias grabbed Maria mid-slide and told her to knock it off. "You're even more of a handful this year. Everyone, the first-years are going to slide." This was met with a lot of "Awwwwww, but the slides are supposed to be just for the big kids!"

"And imagine how you felt last year when the bigger kids said that to you," said Victoria deadpan.

Antonio and Bella, grinning, followed their classes up the spiral steps and helped up the few that tripped on the way. Each first-year class comprised six students, who sat in two vertical lines of three against their instructor. The Vargas twins were closest to Antonio, the elder of whom gripped Antonio's shirt. "Okay, slide!" Bella directed, and both teachers pushed forward. Everyone slid down back into the sunshine and the kids thought it was magical. Antonio specifically addressed Lovino, who looked up. "Are you having fun, Lovino?" The boy nodded with certainty and smiled, like he was doing that morning while reading with Matthew.

When the parents began arriving, Mrs. Vargas showed up after not a long wait and the twins immediately glomped her legs. Feliciana was talking as fast as a whip-poor-will and Lovino was smiling excitedly. "It looks like you two had a much better day!"

"They were very well-behaved! They each received two tomatoes, and Lovino seems to be becoming fast friends with Matthew," Antonio supplied.

"And guess what's the best part about today, Mommy? Guess what guess what guess what!"

"What could it possibly be, my little Feli?"

"After Lovi and I get the purple tomato we're all gonna have our own secret LIBRARY and bring bean bags up to it and read all the books and eat white chocolate rainbows AND LUDWIG IS GONNA BRING HIS DOGS when he gets HIS tomatoes and we'll all have tea in the library with our pets and can we show our mommy the library, Mr. Antonio? Can we can we can we?"

Antonio, deciding to play along, whimsically gestured his hands to the main staircase. "Right this way, milady; let your lovely son and daughter introduce you to their well-known secret quarters!" Many bystanders laughed at this display, and Mrs. Vargas easily kept up with her daughter. She promised to buy snacks for their library club _if she behaved_ and no longer went running off on her own again. Feliciana bouncily promised, but was made sure by her teacher and mother that the promise was serious.

During the walk back home, Lovino told his mother about what he did with his new friend Matthew that day at her request. Quietly, he asked if he could come over one day after school. Mrs. Vargas agreed, overjoyed.

* * *

Fun fact: I taught myself hiragana and got pretty good at writing each of them out when I was 14. But, I forgot a lot of it after a while because I didn't really practice it other than by myself.

I'll be candid in that I got about halfway through with this chapter back in mid-April and then hit a writers' block because I had no idea how to start out the actual curriculum. It's a preschool, so it obviously won't have _too_ intense of a schedule, but I'm sort of a detail freak and wanted to do some research before I went further. I'm finally on summer vacation, so I started up again this evening. Hopefully the sources I went to gave me a good idea. Please do provide input if I committed an extreme falsehood!

Honestly, though, at this early point I'm not sure if my prose for this fic wants to be Shell Silverstein or E. L. Doctorow. I think I may request a Beta just to sort out what style of writing is appropriate at which point.

Admittedly, I forgot that Canada is canonically USA's _older_ brother while composing the first chapter of this fic. But if no one seems to mind it, I won't correct it since I think Lovino and Matthew have quite a bit of story potential in terms of their personalities. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Another important piece of information: Evalyn Paulsen is Wy. If she has an official name as of now, please inform me so I can correct myself here!

I gotta say, for the type of writer I usually am, _THIS. IS. SACCHARINE!_ Geez. I honestly felt like vomiting a white chocolate rainbow after wrapping up the Exploring the School scene. How do you guys like it? Too cut or not cute enough? Should I tone it down or can I keep going? It honestly is therapeutic for me, because I seem to just have an extreme guilty pleasure for shamelessly cute things. For goodness' sake, I secretly indulge in a vapid anime about kindergartners! (I honestly wish it would have gotten at least one more cour. Oh well; that's pretty much what the imagination is for nowadays.)

Speaking of which, the entire Explore scene was an homage to that very anime. Right down to the slides! That's likely as similar as it'll get. No awkward age-gap-involved love triangles here! Blech.

And no, white chocolate rainbows don't actually exist, far as I know. Dark all the way. With orange infusion. I hope someone gives me a chocolate orange as a belated Easter present. I love chocolate oranges.

I realize that this chapter is _long_ , but, well, I admittedly don't always know when to stop while writing narratives. What don't I include? How do I phrase things without it being repetitive and choppy? All of that answered in due time, I suppose.

Oh, and I should mention now (for those who read this far) that requests to read about certain characters in specific situations pertaining to this fic are now **OPEN!**

For requesters' reference, here is the classroom character lineup:

Principal: Ivan Braginski

 **Tomato Class** (First Year)

Teacher: Antonio Carriedo (Spain)

Students: Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany); Elizabeta Hedervary (Hungary); Kiku Honda (Japan); Matthew Jones (Canada); Feliciana Vargas (fem!North Italy); Lovino Vargas (South Italy)

 **Brussels Sprout Class** (First Year)

Teacher: Bella Dupont (Belgium)

Students: Emil Bondevik (Iceland); Monique Bonnefoy (Monaco); Roderich Edelstein (Austria); Peter Kirkland (Sealand); Evalyn Paulsen (Wy); Lili Zwingli (Lichtenstein)

 **Carrot Class** (Second Year)

Teacher: Matthias Kohler (Netherlands)

Students: Natalya Arlovskaya (Belarus); Eduard von Bock (Estonia); Tori Laurinaitis (fem!Lithuania); Alfred Jones (USA); Heracles Karpusi (Greece); Basch Zwingli (Switzerland)

 **Aubergine Class** (Second Year)

Teacher: Victoria Laroche (Seychelles)

Students: Maria Beilschmidt (fem!Prussia); Lukas Bondevik (Norway); Francis Bonnefoy (France); Raivis Galante (Latvia); Feliks Lukasiewicz (Poland); Mei Xiao (Taiwan)

Adult appearances: Wang Yao (China); Arthur Kirkland (UK)

Thank you very much and good night! (It's currently 5:30 in the morning in my time zone.)


End file.
